Super Mario Galaxy £26.99 @ PowerplayDirect [Wii Games]

There's a reason that this hasn't come up much on the site, and it has to do with awesomeness. Nintendo don't do shovelware, in fact they don't really do regular releases either, preferring to take the patient route of dropping a chart-topper every year or so and reinvigorating any one of their many signature franchises. None come more famous than the Italian plumber, though, and his Wii platforming debut stands as one of the greatest platforming games since Mario himself took the genre into 3D.

It has barely fallen in price since its release, and with good reason: it's quite simply one of the best games around at the moment. With demand being so large, most places are currently out of stock at the time of writing, but PowerplayDirect still has copies of the game for £26.99 (with only the OOS ShopTo currently cheaper), saving you £2 on the nearest in-stock competitor over at Coolshop.

I feel I should warn you now...there's a good chance that this game will make you feel slightly ill. With only time left as the only dimension Mario has yet to crack, and considering the longevity of his popularity some would argue that he already has, Nintendo have instead chosen to make gravity there main theme here. As he circumnavigates his way around mini celestial environments, once again chasing after the suspiciously flighty Peach, you'll find our moustachioed hero leaping from planet to planet, ensnared by gravitational forces and result in a truly unique gameplay experience that may lead to some queasiness.

Some vomit-inducing camera work aside, this is quite simply a sublime game. Everything, from the seamless integration of the Wiimote and Nunchuk, to Nintendo's trademark tongue-in-cheek humour, to the personality-stuffed design, animations and character models simply glows with development pride. Galaxy is all the more striking because it poses a direct challenge to all would-be Wii developers and says 'This is how it's done'.

You'll spend days playing this solidly and it'll put a massive smile on your face. If you own a Wii, then this absolutely must be in your collection of games.

This is the game that confuses me the most in regards to price, when did it come out 2006??? Most places are selling for £30, did Nintendo stop making it or something, that its become so hard to get. This should be going for around a tenner, there are plenty great games for the 360 and PS3 that are now in the budget range. Or perhaps Nintendo should have a value/platinum range like the others do. Surely you would not expect to pay £27 for Gears of War or Uncharted.

Maybe it has something to do with the relative lack of truly excellent games for the Wii. There are a huge amount of really good games for the PS3 and X360, but relatively few for the Wii and those that are good are either Nintendo flagship titles or poorly marketed 3rd party titles that sink without a trace, leaving only Mario and Co. to mop up. You could happily buy a Wii and only exclusively buy Nintendo's games.

In a sea of mediocrity, you only truly know where you are with the big Nintendo-branded lifeboat....and they can charge however much they like.